Twitter’s long-form Notes feature: What it is, how it will work

Earlier this month, Twitter announced that it is working on a built-in “Notes” feature that will allow users to write long-form text on the platform, going past the 280-character word limit for tweets. These notes can then be published in a tweet, just like you would do with an external article. The platform is adding a full-fat “blogging” feature to its service. Here is what you can expect from Twitter Notes when it gets a wider roll-out.
What is Twitter Notes feature? Who can access it?
The new feature allows users to write entire articles straight onto the social media platform, and they can even include photos, videos, GIFs and tweets within the article. Currently, it is being tested a small group of writers based in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Ghana.
These users’ Twitter profiles will get a Notes tab, under which you can see all their published Notes, just like you can do so with tweets now.

Notes will come with a rich-text editor which will allow users to bold, italicise and format their text in other ways. The tile of the Note is limited to 100 characters but its body can reach up to 2,500 words. But writers will probably have to stick to Twitter’s rules; this should mean that long-form notes related to violence and harassment would probably get the same treatment as tweets do.

✨ Introducing: Notes ✨
We’re testing a way to write longer on Twitter. pic.twitter.com/SnrS4Q6toX
— Twitter Write (@TwitterWrite) June 22, 2022
These Notes will also have a unique URL which people can use to view the note whether they are logged into Twitter or not. This should mean that they can be widely shared on multiple different platforms and viewed readers irrespective of whether they have a Twitter account or not. Curiously, Notes will come with a feature that is not yet available for tweets: the ability to edit them after they are published. If users edit their Notes after they are published they will have an “edited” label at the top.
Meta-owned Instagram also seems to be working on a similar feature and funnily, it looks it also has the same name: Notes. On Instagram, the feature will allow users to share Notes with all their followers or their Close Friends l, just like how it is possible with Stories

New! Instagram Notes 📝 is being tested with select users https://t.co/mmITar5A89 pic.twitter.com/IbXcCF7cY6
— Matt Navarra (@MattNavarra) June 20, 2022
It remains to be seen how popular the Twitter Notes feature will be with writers and content creators since it hinges on them making a choice to write directly on Twitter as opposed to other content platforms like Medium and WordPress where they may have already worked on creating content and developing an audience.